Zimmer has put unit among best in NFL

6:44 PM,
Sep. 8, 2012

Written by

Kevin Kelly

What Mike Zimmer wants to see from his Bengals defense is a group that plays hard, doesn't beat itself by making mistakes and earns the opposition's respect for being difficult to move the ball against.

"I want us to look like a well-coached defensive team," the Bengals defensive coordinator said in summation. "If that happens, typically, we're going to be close to where we want to be at the end of the year."

Cincinnati finished near the top of the NFL's defensive heap last season, achieving a top-10 ranking in total defense for the second time in three years with a lineup that at the outset ...